Equis Bioenergy issues Notice to Proceed on 50 MW biomass project in Japan

Equis Bioenergy has issued Notice to Proceed (NTP) on its 50 MW biomass power plant in Toyama, Japan, which is located approximately 250 km north-west of Tokyo. Construction is expected to commence in Q2 2019, and the project is scheduled to deliver power in Q3 2021.

Toyo Engineering will undertake the construction works under a full turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contract. The power plant will utilize an Andritz boiler, and a Siemens turbine and generator.

The power plant will be fueled by wood pellets supplied under a 20-year, fixed-quantity, and fixedpriced contract. All feedstock will be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council to guarantee production from sustainably managed forests and supply chains.

Equis Bioenergy has also concluded an Operations & Maintenance Agreement with TEPCO F&P.

The project will sell power to Hokuriku Electric Power Company (HEPCO) under Japan’s renewable energy Feed-In-Tariff regime. Under the terms of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), HEPCO will purchase power from the project at JPY24 (US$0.21) per kWh for a period of 20 years.

The energy produced by the plant is sufficient to supply the needs of approximately 75,000 households. By displacing a traditional coal power plant, it is estimated that it will save approximately 47,785 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per annum, which is equivalent to removing 10,226 passenger vehicles from Japanese roads each year.

The project secured JPY25 billion (US$219.38 million) of non-recourse project financing committed from nine syndication banks led by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Shinsei Bank.